A madcap new slant on history that seems to be everyone’s cup of tea… Behind the seemingly innocuous façade of St Mary’s, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don’t do ‘time-travel’ – they ‘investigate major historical events in contemporary time’. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power – especially given their propensity for … for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet. Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document – to try and find the answers to many of History’s unanswered questions…and not to die in the process. But one wrong move and History will fight back – to the death. And, as they soon discover – it’s not just History they’re fighting. Follow the catastrophe curve from eleventh-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake … “History is just one damned thing after another” – Arnold Toynbee
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I feel like there were too many things happening in just one story (i.e. she could have split up the plot into multiple books), but I enjoyed reading it. Though I’m not interested in reading any of the sequels, as I dislike certain actions of the characters, and couldn’t handle reading more about them ruining life.
This series is one of my all-time favorites. Who doesn’t love a good time-travel story?
This first book in the St. Mary’s Chronicles sent me down the rabbit hole of Jodi Taylor’s imaginative time travel historians world. I may never come back the same, much like her many vivid, whimsical, and unforgettable characters who investigate History in-person (“don’t call it time travel!). Need a diversion? Try this fantasy tale and see if you can resist reading the next.
Love this series!
Excellent story with witty dialogue and good plot line! I already ordered the next book, Echoes of Time, from Amazon.
Great beginning of a fun series. Very entertaining. Just the right touch of pathos when needed. Love the characters. Lots of twists in the plots. Read the whole series, and its spin offs. You will laugh a lot , have a few scares, get twisted around in time. Most of all you’ll wish you could be a historian at St. Mary’s.
I somewhat recommend this book. I was hoping for multiple historical time-traveling forays and found the book spent most of its time in the present era. The plot seemed to drag a bit and felt like the author had a good short story idea she needed to stretch out into a novel.
As a history major, I would like to say that working at an adventurous time-traveling research center where the employees party together, slide down bannisters and the phrase “bloody hell” is like a call to arms would be perfect for me, but given the extremely high mortality rate I would be a little afraid. It’s not just the bad guys that die, so beware.
Max, with a bad family history that is not explored, is hired and trained by St. Mary’s. The majority of the book is her madcap adventures as the Best Time Traveling Adventuring Historian ever with a dollop of romantic tension with another employee. As Max said herself, this is not the kind of story that gets three pages of a romantic scene and she wasn’t wrong. Just as I was thinking this would be a great Young Adult novel, someone tries to rape Max so that’s off the table and the “romantic”scene later confirms it. Nothing overly graphic, and when I sense something uncomfortable coming I simply turn down the audio.
For those readers that see the word History and think B-O-R-I-N-G, never fear. The adventurers visit the historical sites (WWI, the burning of the library at Alexandria among others) with minimal historical facts to weigh it down. Given that I love history, this was the weakest part of the book for me. Personally I would have liked more facts.
The best part of One Damn Thing, is the writing, very dry humor, dialogue and Max’s POV which is fresh, tight and practically sparkles. I listened to the audio and Zara Ramm is absolutely perfect in her narration so one star for that alone.
If you like this one, you’re in luck as there are eleven more standards books as well as novellas.
Side note: Everytime I heard “bloody hell” all I could think of was Ron. The Harry Potter Ron in case there is any question.
Jodi Taylor was an exceptional find, and my introduction to BookBub. I have devoured the entire Chronicles of St. Mary’s series as fast as she can write them. Madcap, mayhem, ridiculous wit, outrageous irreverence and history! What more could I want? More. That’s all. Just more!
LOVE Jodi Taylor – purchase everything she writes!
So. Much. Fun. I’m trying to imagine the elevator pitch. Badass Historians traveling through time? Bond meets Doctor Who meets Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Either way, brilliant approach to history in the making, with a lot of joy to balance the very real stakes.
Fun, fun, fun
Now that I have discovered the world of St. Mary’s I will never be the same!
Great characters, just the right amount of spice, humor and snarkiness, some whirlwind twists and turns have me addicted to everything and anything Jodi Taylor publishes. I even learned some very interesting historical “stuff”.
Thank you Jodi!
I can’t possibly recommend this series enough. I’m on the fifth book and still loving it. Tea-swilling historians who observe history in real time–what could go wrong???
Loved the whole series. Have reread several
Not sure how it is that Taylor can be so consistently laugh out loud funny. Add that to the occasional thrill and you have a great series
Jodi Taylor hits all the right buttons in her first book about the time-traveling “tea-soaked historians” of St. Mary’s. Max, the protagonist, narrates with a brilliant mix of dark humor, dramatic foreshadowing, and emotionally wrenching hints of her tragic childhood and its continuing effects. There is plenty of intrigue, action, danger, and a little romance. No punches are pulled in the twists and turns, while the logic and science of the story remain consistent. I loved this book, and am now reading further in the series.
Laugh out loud funny. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Time travel tale that is humorous, engaging and a fun read. Characters are people that you would like to follow into more adventures. Overall well written and if you like time travel tales without the steamy romance quotient then this is a book for you.
This was a fun little jaunt through history!
Lately, I’ve been in a series kind of mood (something that RARELY happens) and this is one hell of a series! I loved the time travel escapades of St. Mary’s Historians (DON’T call them Time Travelers!) and Max is a fun and quirky heroine.
My only gripe with this book is there are a LOT of characters. Some are referred to by their first names, most are called by their last name, but every now and again she would switch it and call someone who’s been referred to mainly by their last name by their first name. It was very difficult to keep people straight.
Time was also very hard to follow (and not because it’s a book about time travel). There’s no indication of how much time has past. At one point I thought Maxwell had only been at St. Marys for a few months when she mentioned she bought a pair of shoes she was about to wear a few years AFTER joining St. Marys. A few YEARS?! I had no idea! And near the end, we learn she’s been there for 5 years!
Those couple things aside though, I really enjoyed this book. Immediately upon finishing it, I downloaded and started Book 2. If you’re a ‘Doctor Who’ or time travel fan, I definitely recommend this book. I can’t yet comment on the series as a whole but it’s certainly off to a great start.